Vacuuming robots - thoughts ?

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Space_Chief

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We've been looking at purchasing a "Roomba" type autonomous robot to do vacuuming. I don't think the scrubbing versions are good enough yet and require special solution which is not cheap and not available locally, or vinegar which is probably not as good on floors, and I am skeptical of the mainstream brands which are actually more sweepers than vacuum cleaners.

I know iRobot has a Roomba. LG also has one. Samsung has NaviBot and some of their models cost as much as $1000. Karcher has one costing 2500 €. And the one I'm looking at is the Neato Robotics XV which retails for about $300-400. Neato has the strongest suctioning robot which operates with laser navigation and handles tiles, wood and carpet. It's also systematic, unlike Roomba which just goes here and back at random, hopeful it will clean 100% of the spots. What's also nice is that a new improved Neato Robotics version is coming out in April called Signature/Signature Pro series which costs about the same and has 50% more sucking power and great cornering ability. I've been impressed by the current model's online videos so far. The only better model is probably the modified Neato German "Vorwerk VK100" but it is not available anywhere outside of Germany and UK. Local distributor said they may only appear in 2014/15 and they cost much more at over 600 GBP to Neato's approx $400 before rebate. The Neato's are 240v/110v and have an auto-switching power supply.

I'll probably purchase at one of these sites:
Aimtofind with coupon code "neat"
BuyHappier with promo code "ilovebh"

BH also offers 3 year warranty and will cover cost of shipping the defective item back. I also heard Neato Robotics customer support is awesome even for foreign grey market imports - like mine. For computer geeks the Neato can actually be assessed and reprogrammed manually using a terminal app from a PC via a USB port.

Anyhow does anyone own such a robot (of any make) and what are your impressions? Only a gimmick or really worthwhile? I heard many positive things but it could be selection bias.
 
It's a cool nerd thing to have.. Althought it does its job it just can't get those hard to reach areas.. Or your car lol..

Have the Samsung Navibot
 
Yeah you can get the Samsung version at Makro and it's not all that different from the official Roomba units but comes in much cheaper without the import duties and such.

I consider it a "maintainer" rather than a cleaner. You'll still need to do a proper vacuum every so often, just not as frequently.
 
SauRoNZA said:
Yeah you can get the Samsung version at Makro and it's not all that different from the official Roomba units but comes in much cheaper without the import duties and such.

I consider it a "maintainer" rather than a cleaner. You'll still need to do a proper vacuum every so often, just not as frequently.
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Thanks for the feedback guys. I haven't seen them at Makro. I've only seen these at Samsung stores.

Yes you're right, all of these robots are only maintainers. Except for the Vorkwerk which reviewers and users say can actually replace a manual vacuum cleaner - the navigation and cleaning is so good. That's why I'm hopeful that the new Neato model may be almost as good. The current Neatos are almost as loud as proper vacuums.

So I'm not looking at a replacement but something to keep the facebrick dust, dust and crumbs off the floor between proper vacuumings for which we usually use a 2200-2000watt AEG/Samsung.
 
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koeksGHT said:
It's a cool nerd thing to have.. Althought it does its job it just can't get those hard to reach areas.. Or your car lol..

Have the Samsung Navibot
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Thanks.
How well does it clean? Did u purchase from Samsung store, online or overseas?
 
Space_Chief said:
Thanks.
How well does it clean? Did u purchase from Samsung store, online or overseas?
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Got it second hand on BoB.

Does not clean the greatest, depends the surface. Tiles work much better than carpet. As said above its a maintainer/party trick lol

There is a mop version I see too haha!
 
koeksGHT said:
Got it second hand on BoB.

Does not clean the greatest, depends the surface. Tiles work much better than carpet. As said above its a maintainer/party trick lol

There is a mop version I see too haha!
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LOL. Maintainer is good enough. :)

Yeah there are scoobas - so Samsung also has those. :)

The problem is that I tried vacuum cleaning floor washers before - manual ones - like the Homemark R3000 thing which is sold everywhere including Makro - and I was not impressed, returned it the following day. The floor was not cleaned as well as when you properly wash it. Sticky residue left behind and dirty spots not done properly, so I doubt a robotic version will be cool.
 
Also looked into this a while back, but range was an issue. Can't deal with big spaces.
 
calypso said:
Also looked into this a while back, but range was an issue. Can't deal with big spaces.
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How big is your house, or at least how big is your given floor?

I'm gonna try to get the Neato XV Signature Pro. I'll provide feedback when I finally get it :).

The Neato returns to its base station when the battery runs low, recharges and returns to continue cleaning where it left of. I don't know if the other makes do that or not.
 
Space_Chief said:
How big is your house, or at least how big is your given floor?

I'm gonna try to get the Neato XV Signature Pro. I'll provide feedback when I finally get it :).

The Neato returns to its base station when the battery runs low, recharges and returns to continue cleaning where it left of. I don't know if the other makes do that or not.
Click to expand...

Samsung one is suppose to resume.. tho I never seen it actually do it..
 
I think it's still a couple of years away from cleaning all by itself - but it's definitely moving in that direction.

I might spend some cash on one, if I had spare change.
 
Garson007 said:
I think it's still a couple of years away from cleaning all by itself - but it's definitely moving in that direction.

I might spend some cash on one, if I had spare change.
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Probably. But iRobot haven't really made major updates in years, all they've done were minor cosmetic updates.
 
since watching Breaking Bad and seeing one there - i want one.

i always leave a trail of crumbs that sometimes leads to unwanted and unexpected discoveries - maybe one of these can help cover my tracks :D
 
Space_Chief said:
How big is your house, or at least how big is your given floor?

I'm gonna try to get the Neato XV Signature Pro. I'll provide feedback when I finally get it :).

The Neato returns to its base station when the battery runs low, recharges and returns to continue cleaning where it left of. I don't know if the other makes do that or not.
Click to expand...

About 500 squares. Neato gave me the max recommend floor size and if I remember correctly it was about half that for daily duty. It could probably do it, but would be over working the device beyond its engineered spec. I also vaguely remember if it travels 25m without reaching a wall it stops, thinking it's lost. This might have been the roomba though, was quite a few years back when I investigated.
 
calypso said:
About 500 squares. Neato gave me the max recommend floor size and if I remember correctly it was about half that for daily duty. It could probably do it, but would be over working the device beyond its engineered spec. I also vaguely remember if it travels 25m without reaching a wall it stops, thinking it's lost. This might have been the roomba though, was quite a few years back when I investigated.
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I see, the Neato can only do 195 to 223 sq meters with 2 recharges, i.e. 3 runs per cleaning session.

Also laser is accurate for up to 6m so it can't go longer than 5-6m away from objects, or it gets lost. These objects need not be walls though, they can be chairs or similar objects on the floor.

So you'd probably need two devices, using a magnetic boundary marker between areas.

My house is multi-level so I'll be cool with 195-223 sq meters. The busy parts will work within this space.

The new model may have a longer range, who knows.
 
Will be interesting to see if they can build models better suited for larger areas, or maybe devices that can work in teams with multiple charging points. But I would imagine that the limiting factor is battery life, which shouldnt change much for the previous model.
 
calypso said:
Will be interesting to see if they can build models better suited for larger areas, or maybe devices that can work in teams with multiple charging points. But I would imagine that the limiting factor is battery life, which shouldnt change much for the previous model.
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Well, one can already do the teamwork thing crudely, by having two zones set up with two robots.

Just found that it is possible to buy the Vorwerk VR100 online.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/...&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=358549767&pf_rd_i=468294

649 Pounds plus a freight forwarder, plus local customs and tax, and no rebate. That would make it twice the price of the current Neato. Where you get a $75 rebate and it's cheaper to start off with and so you'll also pay less VAT. Still everyone says the extra brush and modified design make the VR much, much better. But at R10K before shipping and Tax, I think I'll experiment with the Signature Pro rather.

http://www.aimtofind.com/home-and-g...s-xv-11-robotic-all-floor-vacuum-cleaner.html

BTW there are updated capacity battery packs available for the Neato too. But they're unofficial.

(Scratch the extra capacity, the robot does not seem to use the extra power.)
 
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